Synonyms for pretend
prɪˈtɛndpre·tend

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pretend

   The distinctive idea of assume is to take by one's own independent volition, whether well or ill, rightfully or wrongfully. One may accept an obligation or assume an authority that properly belongs to him, or he may assume an obligation or indebtedness that could not be required of him. He may assume authority or office that is his right; if he assumes what does not belong to him, he is said to arrogate or usurp it. A man may usurp the substance of power in the most unpretending way; what he arrogates to himself he assumes with a haughty and overbearing manner. One assumes the robes or insignia of office by putting them on, with or without right. If he takes to himself the credit and appearance of qualities he does not possess, he is said to affect or feign, or to pretend to, the character he thus assumes. What a debater postulates he openly states and takes for granted without proof; what he assumes he may take for granted without mention. A favorite trick of the sophist is quietly to assume as true what would at once be challenged if expressly stated. What a man claims he asserts his right to take; what he assumes he takes.

   Synonyms:
   accept, affect, appropriate, arrogate, assume, claim, feign, postulate, presume, put on, take, usurp

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.5 / 2 votes

1. pretend

   Synonyms:
   feign, similate, offer, allege, exhibit, propound, affect, profess

   Antonyms:
   verify, unmask, detect, test, substantiate, refute

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.0 / 1 vote

1. make-believe, pretendadjective

   the enactment of a pretense

   "it was just pretend"

   Synonyms:
   pretense, pretence, make-believe

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

2. make-believe, pretendverb

   imagined as in a play

   "the make-believe world of theater"; "play money"; "dangling their legs in the water to catch pretend fish"

   Synonyms:
   make-believe

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

3. feign, sham, pretend, affect, dissembleverb

   make believe with the intent to deceive

   "He feigned that he was ill"; "He shammed a headache"

   Synonyms:
   bear upon, make believe, mask, touch, cloak, touch on, strike, dissemble, move, assume, involve, venture, simulate, impress, affect, hazard, feign, act, impact, sham, guess, profess, bear on, regard, make

   Antonyms:
   existent, real

4. dissemble, pretend, actverb

   behave unnaturally or affectedly

   "She's just acting"

   Synonyms:
   dissemble, make believe, play, represent, mask, move, work, cloak, venture, roleplay, playact, affect, hazard, feign, do, act, sham, guess, profess, behave, make, act as

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

5. pretendverb

   put forward a claim and assert right or possession of

   "pretend the title of King"

   Synonyms:
   act, make, guess, affect, feign, dissemble, hazard, make believe, profess, sham, venture

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

6. guess, venture, pretend, hazardverb

   put forward, of a guess, in spite of possible refutation

   "I am guessing that the price of real estate will rise again"; "I cannot pretend to say that you are wrong"

   Synonyms:
   guess, run a risk, imagine, infer, opine, adventure, gauge, dissemble, make believe, gamble, sham, chance, reckon, suppose, embark, venture, estimate, affect, hazard, think, jeopardize, stake, act, take chances, approximate, profess, judge, take a chance, risk, make, feign

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

7. make, pretend, make believeverb

   represent fictitiously, as in a play, or pretend to be or act like

   "She makes like an actress"

   Synonyms:
   earn, create, take in, pass water, dissemble, relieve oneself, score, lay down, pull in, progress to, prepare, get, stool, make up, hit, arrive at, cook, attain, fix, establish, seduce, defecate, urinate, work, wee, puddle, reach, take, have, pee-pee, shit, stimulate, pee, get to, construct, act, throw, hazard, form, gain, micturate, take a shit, venture, cause, realise, do, give, crap, affect, take a leak, sham, induce, hold, clear, make water, spend a penny, produce, nominate, wee-wee, ready, piss, name, guess, take a crap, draw, bring in, make believe, constitute, feign, realize, piddle, profess, ca-ca, build, make

   Antonyms:
   real, existent

8. profess, pretendverb

   state insincerely

   "He professed innocence but later admitted his guilt"; "She pretended not to have known the suicide bomber"; "She pretends to be an expert on wine"

   Synonyms:
   act, make, feign, confess, affect, dissemble, hazard, concede, make believe, profess, sham, venture, guess

   Antonyms:
   existent, real

Matched Categories

1. • Act
   • Claim
   • Speculate

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. pretendverb

   Synonyms:
   feign, affect, simulate, counterfeit, sham

2. pretendverb

   Synonyms:
   make believe, make a show, profess falsely

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. pretendverb

   Synonyms:
   claim, simulate, feign, affect

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "pretend":

   pretending, make-believe, claim, simulate

How to pronounce pretend?

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use pretend in a sentence?

1. Arthur C. Clarke:

   I don't pretend we have all the answers. But the questions are certainly worth thinking about.

2. Zin Mar Aung:

   We cannot pretend as if nothing is happening.

3. Blessing Abeng:

   The truth is that we were supposed to be having a' conversation', the context of our conversation was personal and warm, i had made the decision to speak from the heart, and it would be dishonest to pretend that I had not reacted personally to so many issues around Ms. Hillary Clinton, whose life has become a kind of crucible of all the questions that affect women.

4. Yoni Freedhoff:

   It gives smoke and cover for the industry to try and pretend, Hey, were on your team.

5. Jake Tapper:

   I mean look, we can’t pretend the last four or five years have been normal in terms of the players and the people that we’ve been covering and what they’ve been saying and what they’ve been doing. I would like to go back to a time when we could just have more normal politicians come on, but the Republican Party has decided to pursue this path of lies. Not everybody in the Republican Party, but too many in the Republican Party. All three house leaders of the Republican Party where they’re just saying things that are not true.